Vincent Toritseju
Lagos — AS the Nigerian government through the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council move towards the eradication of Container Deposit fees, the unclaimed fees paid by Nigerian importers are currently put at N20billion.
The development has made both importers and freight forwarders have pointed accusing fingers at Mediterranean Shipping Company and other unnamed shipping for allegedly holding on to the monies that ought to have been refunded.
Some of the freight forwarders that spoke on the matter alleged that the shipping companies collect container deposits from them on behalf of the importers, but fail to refund the deposit paid, even after the container has been returned to the shipping lines.
It was gathered that shipping companies collect deposits ranging from N200,000 to N400,000 on 20-foot containers and 40-foot containers respectively.
Speaking on the anomalies of container refunds, a chieftain of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA); Sir John Ofobike, singled out Grimaldi shipping line as one of the few shipping companies which pay the container deposit without delay, he lamented that some other shipping companies do not pay.
He particularly alleged that getting back container deposit refunds from the MSC shipping company is the most tedious; this is even as he blamed the Nigerian Shippers’ Council for allegedly failing to regulate shipping companies in the country as expected.
He said: “If the shipping companies are not complying with the rules and regulations because they are private businesspeople who come to make money, who regulates them? NSC that is supposed to regulate them has been given to politicians.
I have been here for years, and I can tell you that this issue of container deposit is a rip-off, we have gone to that place to picket them on many occasions and some of them complied. Grimaldi for instance doesn’t owe you your container deposit refund, but if you go to MSC hardly will you get your refund.
Also speaking to our correspondent, Mr, Frank Obiekezie, Secretary-General of the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (ARFFN) informed that clearing agents have on several occasions complained about MSC Shipping not returning the container deposit, he noted that others are beginning to comply while stating that some of the junior staff working in some of the shipping companies are the ones causing the problem.
“I have discovered that some workers at the lower level will form some sort of blockade and begin to frustrate agents. Let me tell you about my personal experience with CMA, the containers were returned to them on the 25th of April, and my boys were going there from time to time to demand the refund, but they keep postponing it until I had to write to the manager, who now apologized that he was not aware, and just this morning they sent in my refund, so most times it is the people they employ that are the problem, because they want to extort and the top management may not be aware”, he said.
All efforts to get the reaction of the Managing Director of MSC Shipping proved abortive as calls and text messages sent to him were not responded to.
Reacting to the development, Director of Consumers Affairs at the Shippers Council, Chief Cajetan Agu, asked freight forwarders and importers who are owned by MSC shipping company or any other shipping companies to write to the council, promising that such a person will get his/her container refund in less than 48 hours.
“Let such importer or agent write to us and we will take it from there and I can assure you that in less than 48 hours, such a person will get his container deposit back” he assured.
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